Cutting device



Aug. 28, 1962 E. WALTZ 3,051,223

CUTTING DEVICE Filed April 10, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet l n :23 23.: /4 I @99 [W I 1 L 7 m W 2:72 a (24 32/ T411 24 INVENTOR. EDWARD WALTZ f? 4 BY ATTORNEYS Aug. 28, 1962 E. WALTZ 3,051,223

CUTTING DEVICE Filed April 10, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 F a 4A? a 4% 44 43a 42 7" WWII INVENTORQ EDWARD WALTZ M M x 914M ATTORNEYS ate it Patented Aug. 28, 1952 ice 3,051,223 CUTTING DEVICE Edward Waltz, Grand Rapids, Mich, assignor to E. 0. Bulrnan Manufacturing Company, Inc., Grand Rapids, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Filed Apr. 10, 1961, Ser. No. 101,)67 9 Claims. (Ill. 156-527) This invention relates in general to a device for dispensing adhesive tape from a roll thereof and, more particularly, to a type of such device which can be easily held in one hand and by which a strip of said tape can be applied to a surface and severed from the remainder of the tape easily and quickly without manually engaging or distorting the tape and without risk of damage to the surface. This application is a continuation-in-part of my patent application Serial No. 798,282, filed March 9, 1959, now abandoned and entitled Cutting Device.

It is well known that certain types of adhesive tape, such as tapes commonly called masking tape or Scotch tape manufactured by Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, are widely used in many operations, such as packaging, sealing and painting for the purpose of protecting or connecting a wide variety of articles and materials. Adhesive tape of the type generally used for the above purposes is usually supplied in rolls from which strips of said tape are removed and applied. It has been found that manual removal of the tape from a roll thereof followed by manual application of the tape in commercial or industrial operations is time consuming, requires two hands, is often messy and difiicult to handle, and may even result in an unsatisfactory job.

Attempts have been made to overcome these problems by providing a dispenser which can be held in one hand and by which the tape can be applied to a surface without manually engaging the tape during the application thereof. Further attempts have been made to provide such dispensers with cutting edges for severing the applied strip of tape from the remainder of the tape. However, existing devices which hav come to my attention, particularly for the purpose of cutting the strip, have not solved the problem. In some of such devices it is necessary, in order to sever the applied portion of the tape from the remainder thereof, to twist the dispenser awkwardly and then pull vigorously. Such twisting and pulling may often result in either disengaging the tape from the surface to which it has been applied or distorting the tape so that the sealing properties of the twisted portion of the tape are permanently impaired. In other previous dispensers, the tape is cut by a special shearing mechanism, which is usually complicated and often costly. In still other such devices, an exposed knife presents a risk of damage to the surface upon which the tape is being applied.

Accordingly, a primary object of this invention has been the provision of a device for dispensing adhesive tape from a roll thereof whereby a portion of said tape can be applied to a surface or other object and thereafter severed from the remainder of the tape disposed within the dispenser quickly and easily by means of a simple operation which requires only one hand during the complete operation, thereby freeing the other hand of the person operating the device for positioning the surfaces or objects to which the tape is being applied.

A further object of this invention has been the provision of a tape dispensing device, as aforesaid, whereby said tape can be transferred easily from a roll thereof to a surface, after which said tape is out without manually engaging the tape at any time during the operation, and without twisting, distorting or otherwise applying inconvenient forces or pressures to said tape whereby the dispensing of the tape is rendered difiicult and/ or its application is unsightly or insecure, and without risk of damaging the surface to which the tape is being applied.

A further object of this invention is the provision of an adhesive tape dispenser, as aforesaid, which is simple in operation, which requires no maintenance, which can be quickly and easily reloaded with another roll of tape of either the same or a different type and wherein the cutting blade may be quickly and easily changed to suit the type of tape being dispensed.

A further object of this invention is the provision of an adhesive tape dispenser, as aforesaid, which is inexpensive to manufacture, easy to assemble and completely foolproof in operation so that it can be easily and properly used by any person capable of performing the operation with existing dispensers used for the same purposes.

Other objects and purposes of this invention will become apparent to persons familiar with this type of device upon reading the following specification and examining the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of an adhesive tape dispenser embodying the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a front end view of the dispenser.

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of the dispenser.

FIGURE 4 is a broken sectional view taken along the line IVIV in FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged, sectional view taken along the line VV in FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view taken along the line VI-VI in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged, sectional view taken along the line VI'IVII in FIGURE 4 with the tape omitted.

FIGURE 8 is a fragment of FIGURE 1 showing a different operating position.

FIGURE 9 is a view corresponding to a fragment of FIGURE 2 showing an alternate blade construction.

For convenience in description, the terms upper, lower and derivatives thereof as used herein will have reference to the tape dispenser substantially as appearing in FIGURES 1 and 4. The terms front and rear will have reference to the leftward and rightward ends, respectively, of the tape dispenser and parts thereof as appearing in FIGURES 1, 3 and 4. The terms inner, outer and derivatives thereof will have reference to the geometric center of said tape dispenser and parts thereof.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION The objects and purposes of the invention, including those set forth above, have been met by providing an adhesive tape dispenser comprised of an elongated, hollow body member upon one end of which is rotatably supported a roll of said adhesive tape and through which said tape extends from said roll. A plurality of rollers are rotatably supported upon and within said body member for guiding said adhesive tape through said body member. A portion of the peripheral surface of a frontward one of said rollers extends downwardly from said body member whereby it can press said adhesive tape against the surface to which said tape is to be applied.

A blade is mounted within said body member so that its cutting edge is located near to and frontwardly of the tape applying roller. The side walls of the body member have similar, curved edges at their front ends which define cam surfaces located adjacent said roller and extending past the cutting edge of said blade. By pivoting the body member approximately around the axis of the tape applying roller so that the cam surfaces engage the surface upon which the tape is being applied, the cutting edge is caused to engage and then cut the strip of tape at a point adjacent to said surface, but the surface itself is protected from damage by the blade. In order to facilitate the cutting operation, the cutting edge of the blade may'be serrated and arranged in a non-parallel relationship with respect to the said axis of pivoting.

The roll of tape may be substantially exposed or it may be enclosed within an enlarged portion of ,the housing. Moreover, the housing may be fabricated from two substantially identical parts which may be easily separated from each other for the purpose of reloading the dispenser or changing the type of adhesive tape being dispensed thereby.

The tape dispenser of the invention may be adapted for applying a wide variety of adhesive tapes which are preferably, but not necessarily, pressure sensitive so that they adhere upon contact with a surface. The cutting blade of the dispenser may be removably mounted so that it can be replaced when worn or changed for the purpose of adapting the dispenser to different types of tape.

DETAILED CONSTRUCTION The adhesive tape dispenser (FIGURE 1), which has been selected herein to illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, is arranged and constructed for applying to a surface 11 a strip of adhesive tape 12 from a roll 13 thereof supported by said dispenser 16. The surface 11 may be on any object to which the tape 12 is to be applied, and the roll 13 of tape is preferably, but not necessarily, wound upon a spool 14 havingintegral, coaxial stub shafts 17 extending axially from both sides thereof.

The tape dispenser 10 (FIGURES 1 and 2) is comprised of an elongated, hollow body member 18 having a substantially rectangular cross section as shown in FIGURE 5. In this particular embodiment, the body member 18 consists of two, channel-shaped, body elements 19 and 20 (FIGURE 4) which are preferably substantially mirror images of each other. The elements 19 and 20 have Webs 23 and 24 (FIGURE 7) which form theside walls of the member 18. Said elements 19 and 20 have upper flanges 26 and 27, respectively (FIGURE 3), and lower flanges 28 and 29, respectively (FIG- URE 7), which form the upper wall 32 and lower wall 33, respectively, of the member 18. The cross-sectional size and the length of the body member 18 are preferably such that it can be comfortably gripped and held in an average, normal adult hand substantially as shown in FIGURE 1.

The rearward or rightward end, as appearing in FIG- URE 3, of the webs 23 and 24 have integral extensions 23a and 24a which project rearwardly and upwardly at an angle of approximately degrees to the lengthwise extent of the body member 18. The roll 13 of the tape (FIGURE 3) is disposed between the web extensions 23a and 24a, and said extensions have two pairs of axially aligned shaft openings 34, 34a and 35, 35a, respectively, near their rear ends for reception of the stub shafts 17 on the spool 14. vThe web extensions 23a and 24a have lead-in grooves and 31, respectively, associated with the shaft openings 34, 34a and 35, a to facilitate mounting of the roll 13 of tape upon and between the extensions 23a and 24a. The front ends of the lower flanges 28 and 29 on the elements 19 and 20 are spaced rearwardly from the front ends of the webs 23 and 24 (FIGURE 4) to provide space forthe tape applying roller 66 and the blade 54.

The two body elements 19 and 20 (FIGURE 2) are positively positioned with respect to each other by a pair of parallel, front and rear posts 37 and 38 (FIGURE 4), which extend perpendicularly between the webs 23 and 24 near the front and rear ends, respectively, of the upper flanges 26 and 27. The posts 37 and 38 have axial end portions 41 and 42 (FIGURE 7) of reduced diameter which extend through the openings 43 and 44 in the web 23 and are upset to rigidly secure them to the web 23. The posts 37 and 38 have end portions 45 and 46 of reduced diameter which extend through the openings 47 and 48 in the web 24, which openings are axially aligned 4 with the openings 43 and 44, respectively, in the web 23. Screws 47a and 48a are threadedly received into the coaxial openings 45a and 46a in said posts 37 and 38 for holding the posts 37 and 38 with respect to the element 20. Accordingly, the housing elements 19 and 20 can be quickly disconnected from each other simply by removing the screws 47a and 48a. The rear post 38 (FIGURE 4) is preferably disposed adjacent the rear end of the upper wall 32, Where it also serves as a tape guide.

The front post 37 is located near the upper wall 32 between the offset front portions 57 and 58 of the webs 23 and 24, respectively. The front post 37 is encircled and tightly embraced by the upper end of a blade support 52, which may be rigidly secured thereto, as by welding. A blade 54, having a cutting edge 56 along its lower edge, is secured to the lower portion of the blade support 52 by screws 55 and said blade 54 extends downwardly and slightly frontwardly within a plane substantially perpendicular to the upper wall 32 and webs 23 and 24. The cutting edge 56 (FIGURE 2) of the blade 54 is serrated and sharpened to improve the cutting action thereof.

The front edges of the webs 23 and 24 are located frontwardly of, and they extend below, the cutting edge 56 and they are convexly curved at their lower ends to form arcuate, protective guide surfaces 61 and 62, respectively,

around and spaced from said cutting edge 56. The front portions 57 and 58 may also have coaxial openings, one of which appears at 64, adjacent the guide surfaces 61 and 62, through which ears 59 and 60 on the ends of the blade 54 are snugly received.

An applicator roller 66 (FIGURES 4 and 5) has a central axle 65 which is rotatably supported upon and between the front portions 57 and 58 of the webs 23 and 24. Said axle 65 has coaxial, integral pins 67 and 68 which extend from the opposite ends thereof through the coaxial pin openings, one of which appears at 70, in the portions 57 and 58 of the webs 23 and 24. The roller 66 has a flexibly resilient, as rubber, sleeve 74 which is secured upon the roller axle 65 between the portions 57 and 58. The pin openings 70 are preferably located adjacent the lower edges of the front portions 57 and 58 so that the peripheral surface of the sleeve 74 extends downwardly substantially below the lower edges of the portions 57 and 58.

A rear guide roller 76 (FIGURES 4 and 5), which preferably is serrated, has a pair of coaxial and integral end pins 77 and 78 which extend through the aligned slots 79 and 80 in the webs 23 and 24, respectively. The pins 77 and 78 have coaxial, threaded openings 81 and 82 into which the screws 81a and 82a are threadedly received to hold the roller 76 between the webs 23 and 24 for rotation with respect thereto and for movement lengthwise of the slots 79 and 80. The slots 79 and 80 are located below the post 38 and are arranged so that they slope upwardly and rearwardly. Thus, when the roller 76 is located at or near the front ends of the slots 79 and 80, it is spaced from the post 38. However, when the roller 76 is near the rearward ends of slots 7 9 and 80, its peripheral surface is engageable with the rear post 38.

The tape 12 is threaded between the post 38 and the rear guide roller 76 so that the uncoated side thereof slidably engages the post 38 and the adhesively coated side thereof engages the serrated surface on the roller 76. The serrations provide a minimum of surface on the roller 76 which can engage and adhere to the coated surface on the adhesive tape, thereby minimizing drag. On the other hand, the serrations on the roller 76 tend to bite into the tape and press it firmly against the post 38 whereby rearward movement of the tape is positively and firmly opposed whenever the roll 13 of the tape is accidentally turned in the rewinding direction.

A front guide roller 83 (FIGURES 4 and 7) is comprised of an outer, cylindrical sleeve 84 rotatably sup ported on an axle 85 which is located adjacent the lower wall 33 of the body member 18 near the front end thereof. The axle 85 preferably is rigidly secured to the web 23 and slidably extends through an appropriate opening in the web 24 in order to support the axle. The external surface of the guide roller 83 is serrated in the same manner as the external surface of the rear guide roller 76 and for the same reasons. Thus, the external surface of the front guide roller presents a minimum of surface engageable by the coated side of the adhesive tape 12 as it moves partially around said surface as shown in FIG- URE 4. The roller 76 and the sleeve 84 of the roller 83 are preferably fabricated of a suitable material, such as steel, in order to minimize adhesion with the tape.

The applicator roller 66 and the cutting edge 56 of the blade 54 are preferably located with respect to each other and with respect to the body member 18 so that a strip of tape being pressed by the roller 66 against and adjacent the surface 11 (FIGURE 1) will be engaged by the cutting edge 56 (FIGURE 4) when the body member 18 is pivoted upwardly into its FIGURE 8 position along the guide edges 61 and 62 at the front ends of the webs 23 and 24, respectively.

In the alternate blade construction shown in FIGURE 9, the serrated cutting edge 89 on the alternate blade 91 slopes upwardly from one end thereof in order to improve the cutting action thereof for certain types of adhesive tapes. It has been found that various types of adhesive tape sometimes require difierent types of cutting edges for the most efiicient cutting action. Thus, while two types of cutting edge configurations are shown herein, it will be recognized that various additional configurations can be provided within the scope of this invention.

An elongated lever 93 has a pair of ears 94 and 95 (FIGURE 7) near 'one end thereof and said ears have openings through which a pivot shaft 96 is slidably received. The shaft 96 is rigidly secured to web 23 of the body member 18 adjacent the rearward edge thereof so that said shaft extends substantially parallel with the rear post 38. The lever 93 extends upwardly and rearwardly from the pivot shaft 96 for engagement with the upper surface of the roll 13 (FIGURE 4). Thus, the operator can utilize the lever 93 to retard the rotational movement of the roll 13 by sliding his hand rearwardly along the body member 18 until it engages the lever 93 and presses same against the roll.

The lever 93 has an integral downwardly curving finger 97 (FIGURE 4) at its front end for engagement with a leaf spring 98, the front end of which is secured to the flange 26 on element 19 by the screw 99. Thus, the spring 98 resiliently urges the finger 97 upwardly whereby the rearward end of the lever 93 is continuously urged downwardly against the roll 13.

The body member and various parts supported thereon and associated therewith may be fabricated from a variety of different materials including metal and plastics.

OPERATION The dispenser (FIGURES 1 and 3), may be loaded with a roll 13 of tape merely by springing the web extensions 23a and 24a away from each other slightly and, at the same time urging the stub shafts 17 on the spool 14 along a pair of opposing lead-in grooves 30 or 31 into either the openings 34 and 35 or the openings 34a and 35a in said web extensions. Where the roll of tape is of relatively large diameter, the outermost openings 34a and 35a will normally be used while openings 34 and 35 will be used for smaller diameter rolls. The tape from the roll 13 can then be threaded first between the post 38 and the roller 76 and thence over the roller 83 (FIGURE 4) and beneath the roller 66. The dispenser 10 is now ready for use.

Under some circumstances, it may be necessary to open the dispenser body member in order to thread a very sticky adhesive tape therethrough. Such opening can be quickly and easily accomplished merely by removing the screws 47a, 48a and 82a. The application roller 66, the support posts 37 and 38, the front guide roller 83, rear guide roller 76 and the pivot shaft 96 will remain with the element 19. The spool 14 with its roll of tape can now be mounted upon the web extension 23a after which the tape 12, as shown in FIGURE 4, can be threaded through the completely exposed interior of the dispenser. Thereafter, the side element 20 is returned to its FIGURE 1 position after which the screws 47a, 48a and 82a are returned to their positions with respect to the support posts 37 and 38 and the rear guide roller 76, respectively. The dispenser 10 is now ready for operation in the same manner as previously discussed above.

The dispenser 10 can be used simply by manually grasping the body member '18, as shown in FIGURE 1, pressing the lower coated side of the tape against the surface 11 by means of the application roller 66. Thereafter, the dispenser 10 may be moved rearwardly along the surface 11, that is, to the right as appearing in FIGURE 1, and the tape will be drawn off the roll 13 and continuously applied by the roller 66 to said surface. The front end portions 57 and 58 of the webs 23 and 24, respectively, project downwardly below the bottom wall 33 of the body member 18 and thereby provide space beneath the body member 18 for the fingers of the operators hand.

When it becomes desirable to sever the portion of the tape being applied to the surface from the portion within and upon the dispenser 10, the dispenser is rocked or pivoted upwardly into the position substantially as shown in FIGURE 8 so that the tape 12 is drawn across the cutting edge 56 of the blade 54. With some forms of tape, cutting thereof will commence as soon as the serrations of the cutting edge 56 engage the tape so that very little rearward force must be applied to the dispenser to effect a clean cut. With other types of tapes, it may be necessary to apply some force to the dispenser in order to cause the blade to penetrate and sever the tape. In a few instances, it may even be necessary to apply a slight twisting motion to the dispenser body around its lengthwise axis. With tapes requiring such twisting action, it is normally advantageous to use the type of cutting blade shown in FIGURE 9 wherein the cutting edge 89 has the effect of being twisted even though it is drawn along a line parallel with the length of the tape applied to the surface.

When the cutting operation has been completed, the end of the tape 12 will be disposed below the application roller 66 in a position which may be similar to that shown in FIGURE 4. Accordingly, a new tapering operation can be performed immediately simply by pressing the coated side of the tape against a new surface and repeating the operation set forth above.

Certain types of adhesive tapes, such as those having fiberglas threads extending lengthwise thereof, 'have a very high tensile strength and resistance to shearing. Thus, it sometimes happens that a clean shearing action cannot be performed, unless the roll 13 is prevented from rotating because when such a shearing operation is attempted, the tape may tend to slide along the cutting edge 56. Under such circumstances, the operator can prevent rotation of the roll by sliding his hand rearwardly along the dispenser so that the lever 93 can be gripped by the hand and thereby firmly pressed against the roll 13 while, at the same time, comfortably and properly holding the dispenser for a cutting operation.

Although a particular preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed in detail hereinabove for illustrative purposes, it will be recognized that variations or modifications of such disclosure, which come within the scope of the appended claims, are fully contemplated.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for dispensing adhesive tape from a roll thereof, comprising: an elongated body member having a lengthwise passageway; means extending from one end 7 r of said body member and a-t'an acute angle to the lengthwise extent thereof for supporting the roll of tape upon said body' member near said one end thereof; a cutting blade mounted upon and within said body member and having a cutting edge disposed near the other end of said body member, the extremity of said body member at the other end thereof having a pair of convex guide surfaces located at the opposite ends of said blade, said surfaces being spaced from and curving around an extended line defined by the cutting, edge of said blade; a guide roller rotatably supported within said body member near said other end thereof; an applicator roller rotatably supported in said body member between and substantially parallel with said guide roller and the cutting edge of said blade, the periphery of said applicator roller extending outwardly of said body member, said tape passing between said rollers with the adhesive side thereof engaging said guide roller, whereby the adhesive surface of said tape can be applied to a surface by said applicator roller and the previously applied portion of said tape severed from the remainder of said tape by pivoting said body member around said guide surfaces thereof.

2. A device for applying and severing a strip of tape from a roll thereof, comprising: an elongated, hollow member having openings at the opposite ends thereof; a pair of spaced, parallel arms extending from one end of said body member for rotatably supporting a roll of the tape upon said body member for rotation around a first axis, the lengthwise axes of said arms lying substantially within a plane disposed at an acute angle to the lengthwise extent of said body member; a blade supported upon said body member and having a cutting edge disposed therein near the other end of said body member, said cutting edge being substantially parallel 'with said first axis; a first roller rotatably supported upon said body member near to and spaced from said cutting edge for rotation around a second axis substantially parallel with said first axis, the periphery of said first roller projecting outwardly of said body member near said cutting edge; wall means on said other end of said :body member having curved surfaces extending around and radially spaced from an extended line defined by said cutting edge; a second roller supported upon said body,

member near to and spaced from said first roller for ro-' tation around a third axis located between and substantially parallel with said first and second axes, said tape being threaded between said first and second rollers with the adhesive side thereof engaging said second roller; rod means supported within said body member near said one end thereof and parallel with said first axis; a third roller rotatably supported within said body member adjacent to and parallel with said rod means for movement into and out of peripheral engagement with said rod means, said tape passing between said third roller and said rod means with the adhesive side of said tape against said third roller, whereby movement of said tape toward 8 r said roll causes said third roller to press said tape against said rod means.

3. The structure of claim 2 wherein said first roller is substantially larger in diameter than said second roller and said second and third rollers have lengthwise grooves in the peripheral surfaces thereof.

4. The structure of claim 2 wherein said blade defines a plane substantially perpendicular to the lengthwise extent of said body member.

5. The structure of claim 2 wherein the plane defined by the axes of said arms is at an angle of approximately 25 degrees to the lengthwise extent of said body member.

6. The structure of claim 2 wherein said body member is comprised of a pair of substantially identical, channel-shaped elements and said arms are extensions of the webs of said channel-shaped elements, said guide surfaces being defined by the other ends of said channelshaped elements; and wherein said rollers are rotatably supported upon and between the webs of said channelshaped elements.

7. The structure of claim 2 wherein said blade is removably supported within said member and the cutting edge thereof is disposed in a slightly non-parallel relationship with respect to the axis of said first roller.

8. The structure of claim 6 wherein said webs have enlarged portions near said other ends thereof which project away from the remainder of said body member in the same direction as the periphery of said first roller.

9. A device for applying and severing a strip of tape from a roll thereof, comprising: an elongated body member; angularly disposed support means near one end of said body member for rotatably supporting a roll of the tape upon said body member for rotation around a first axis offset laterally from the lengthwise axis of the body member; a blade supported upon said body member and having a cutting edge disposed therein near the other end of said body member; a first roller rotatably supported upon said body member adjacent said cutting edge for rotation around a second axis; guide means on the other end of said body member defining a pair of curved surfaces radially spaced from, and located at the opposite ends of, said cutting edge; a lever pivotally supported near one end thereof upon said body member near said one end thereof for movement around an axis parallel with said first axis, the other end of the lever being engageable with said roll; and resilient means on said body member urging said lever against said roll.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,204,761 Hall Nov. 14, 1916 2,016,527 Voigt Oct. 8, 1935 2,324,204 Fischer July 13, 1943 2,607,508 Clampit Aug. 19, 1952 2,763,393 Gill Sept. 18, 1956 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,051,223 August 28, 196

Edward Waltz It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered pat ent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below Column 7, line '24 after "hollow insert body Signed and sealed this 8th day of January 1963.;

(SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST w. SWIDER DAVID A Attesting Officer I Commissioner of Patents 

